Russia’s 2nd military drill in US ‘backyard’

A Russian missile destroyer will arrive in Nicaragua for a joint naval exercise amid growing tensions between Moscow and Washington.

Navy spokesman, Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo, said on Thursday that Admiral Chabanenko missile destroyer and two support ships would arrive in Nicaragua on Friday.

“After crossing the Panama Canal, the Admiral Chabanenko and two support ships will visit the port of Bluefields in Nicaragua on December 12-15,” Dygalo told Ria Novosti.

(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)

After a joint military exercise with Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea, Russia planned to have another maneuver with Nicaragua.

Last week, the Russian nuclear-powered missile cruiser Peter the Great participated in the VenRus-2008 naval exercise in the Caribbean.

Tensions between the White House and the Kremlin have intensified after the August conflict between Russia and Georgia, a US ally, in South Ossetia.

The war began when Georgian military forces launched an offensive into South Ossetia to retake the independence-seeking region. In response, Russia sent its troops into the region, which many of its people enjoy Russian citizenship.

After the conflict, when Russia recognized the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega supported the measure.

Earlier, Russia announced that its Navy would build up a constant presence throughout the world’s oceans, including its current naval task groups.

Meanwhile, a task force from Russia’s Pacific Fleet, comprising the Admiral Vinogradov, an Udaloy class missile destroyer, left its main base in Vladivostok on Tuesday to take part in joint naval drills with the Indian navy in the Indian Ocean.